Colin Graves returning to Yorkshire would be a “disaster” if the cricket authorities allowed it to happen, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee has said.
Graves, 75, is understood to be in exclusive dialogue with the club over a return, after earlier talks with former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley over a potential investment stalled.
Graves served as Yorkshire’s chair between 2012 and 2015, part of a 17-year period between 2004 and 2021 where the club have since admitted an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) charge of failing to address the systemic use of racist or discriminatory language.
Clive Efford, a member of the CMS committee which heard harrowing testimony from former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq in November 2021 about the racism he experienced, urged the ECB to act.
“It’s a retrograde step and a disaster for cricket if the ECB allow it to happen,” Efford told the PA news agency.
“I supported Yorkshire not being stripped of the Ashes Test match on the basis that they had taken major steps and seemed determined to move forward, but clearly I was mistaken.”
The ECB withdrew Yorkshire’s right to stage lucrative international matches at Headingley over their handling of Rafiq’s case, and only reinstated it after major changes were enacted at board level.
A consortium including Graves entered into an exclusivity period with Yorkshire to discuss its offer, which it is understood ends on Friday. Yorkshire are understood to urgently require an injection of cash to cover running costs.
The club also owe £14.9million to their major creditor, the Graves Trust, although chief executive Stephen Vaughan told members at an extraordinary general meeting last September that a deal had been done to defer any repayments until 2025.
Robin Smith, himself a former Yorkshire chair, told PA: “Colin Graves’ consortium’s proposal for Yorkshire comes from people of integrity and relevant experience.
“It is well capable of restoring desperately needed confidence amongst Yorkshire members and the wider public and it deserves support. I am confident that it will get it.”
The ECB declined to comment on the possibility of Graves returning to Yorkshire when approached, but was critical of comments he made in an interview with Sky Sports last June.
Graves, who also served as ECB chair between 2015 and 2020, said he never witnessed racism during the time he was at the club and that nothing was ever raised to him about it.
He added: “I think there’s been odd occasions where words have been said that people may regret afterwards. I don’t think it was done on a racist, savage basis. I think there was a lot of – I know people don’t like the word banter – but I think there could have been a lot of banter in there about it, and I know people don’t like that.”
The ECB said at the time it was “disappointed” by Graves’ comments and added: “We must never again hear of accounts like Azeem Rafiq’s, where racist slurs are used as part of normalised everyday language.
“These events, along with many issues experienced by Azeem and others during their time at Yorkshire have been upheld more than once, including during proceedings overseen by the Cricket Discipline Commission.
“We vehemently disagree that this is ‘just banter’ and believe that any debate in that regard should stop immediately. Racism isn’t banter.
“Yorkshire is of huge importance to cricket in England and Wales with a deep history and an ability to inspire and connect all cricket fans. They are currently working hard to resolve their financial and cultural challenges and the club, and its new management, have our full support.”
Yorkshire declined to respond to Efford’s comments on Thursday.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
